Jetlagged shopping

I think we started exploring too soon. The day we arrived, we decided to head to the supermarket to grab a few basics. But first, we needed to fortify ourselves. A little Turkish café called Zilli’s grabbed our attention, and we were well catered for. The owner had just baked fresh bread, so anything on the menu served with it was the recommendation. My frazzled mind could get more imaginative than soup, and Diane opted for a Turkish breakfast (which I was convinced was a sex act- turns out I was thinking of a snowcone). Anita had some meatballs and rice prepared, on off-menu option offered as they didn’t have a children’s menu. One kiwi custom which I first encountered in Zilli’s was the automatic serving of water- a happy tendency when you have a thirst like mine.

The local supermarket is an establishment called Pak ‘n Save, a name which causes Diane great amusement. Apparently they are cheap because you have to pack your own bags. That seems like no great hardship for a British ex-pat, as UK supermarkets have only recently begun packing for the customer. Whatever the case, I would not recommend visiting any supermarket the afternoon after disembarking from a long-haul flight. The shelves seemed to tower above me, the labels could have been in a different language, and I felt like I stood out a mile. Somehow we managed to get the basics that we needed (see previous post for a couple of examples), and then I went home for an afternoon nap. 14 hours later, I woke up…